The General Psychology of Tennis (Part 2)
Posted by Gail Jones in Uncategorized, tags: apparel, attire, celebrities, enjoyment, Fashion, fitness, health, hobbies, other, outdoors, recreation, sport, tennis, Uncategorized, wimbledonThe hard-hitting, unpredictable, net-rushing tennis-player is a person of impulse. There is no real strategy to his/her game, no understanding of your game. He will make brilliant coups on the spur of the moment, largely by instinct; but there is no, mental power of consistent thinking. It is an interesting type of character.
The really unnerving player is the one who mixes his/her strategy from back to fore court under the command of an ever-active mind. This/her is the player to study and learn from. He is a player with a definite intention. A player who has an answer to every problem you present him in your game. He is the most subtle antagonist in the world of tennis. He is of the school of Brookes. Second only to him is the player of dogged determination that sets his/her mind on one plan and adheres to it, bitterly, fiercely fighting to the end, with never a thought of change.
He is the player whose psychology is fairly easy to work out, but whose mental standpoint is hard to upset, because he never allows himself to think of anything but the business at hand. This/her player is your Johnston or your Wilding. I respect the mental capacity of Brookes more, but I admire the tenacity of purpose of Johnston.
Pick out your type from your own mental processes, and then work out your game along the lines most suited to you. When two men are in the same class concerning stroke, strength and equipment, the deciding factor in any game is the mental viewpoint. Luck, as it is called, is often no more than seizing the psychological advantage of a change of flow in the game, and turning it to your own account. People talk a great deal about the “shots we have made.” But few people understand the importance of the “shots we have missed.”
The science of missing shots is just as important as that of making them, and at times a miss by an inch is of more value than a return that is killed by your opponent. Allow me to explain. A player forces you far out of court with an angle-shot. You run hard to it, and having reached it, you smash it hard and fast down the side-line, missing it by an inch. Your opponent is surprised and put off his stride, realizing that your shot could just as well have gone in as out. He will expect you to attempt it again and he will not take the risk next time. He will strive to play the ball, and may fall into error. You have thus stolen some of your opponent’s confidence, and increased his/her chance of error, all because of a miss.
If you had just tapped back that ball, and it had been killed, your opponent would have felt even more confident of your inability to get the ball out of his/her reach, while you would merely have been winded for no reason.
Let’s just say that you made the shot down the sideline. It was a seemingly impossible get. First it amounts to TWO points in that it took one away from your opponent that should have been his/her and gave you one you ought never to have had. Second it also upsets your opponent, because he feels that he has thrown away a big chance.
The psychology involved in a game of tennis is fascinating, but easily understood. Both player begin with equal opportunities. However, once one player has gained a real advantage, his/her confidence goes up, while his/her opponent stresses, and his/her mental viewpoint becomes weaker. The only objective of the first player is to hold his/her lead, thus holding his/her confidence.
If the second player draws even or draws ahead, the inevitable reaction occurs with an even more drastic contrast in psychology. There is the natural confidence of the leader, but coupled with the great stimulus of having turned a seemingly inevitable defeat into a probable victory. The reverse is the case of the other player, who is apt to lose confidence and play worse. The collapse of his game plan soon follows.
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